


An Offer And A Refusal

by afteriwake



Series: A Different Path [4]
Category: Sherlock (TV)
Genre: F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-04-02
Updated: 2014-04-02
Packaged: 2018-01-17 21:17:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,519
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1402738
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/afteriwake/pseuds/afteriwake
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Mycroft pays a visit to Molly at her job and asks her to do something she doesn't want to do: spy on Sherlock for him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	An Offer And A Refusal

**Author's Note:**

> Once again, another one without a prompt. I just assume Mycroft has pretty much asked anyone who's ever gotten close to Sherlock to spy on him, and I doubt his girlfriend would be an exception to that, even in this AU.

There were times Molly could scarcely believe she was actually happy in her life. She had spent so long being consumed with work and the few hobbies she had that she hadn't had much time for a social life. But here she was, just over a month into a relationship with someone she cared about a lot. She'd even go so far to say she loved Sherlock. She was fairly sure she'd fallen in love with him around the time they actually started dating, because she'd already started to when they were friends. Sometimes it concerned her that she was feeling that way, because it was all too fast, but she couldn't help it. She was in love with him but she didn't know if he felt the same way. She hated keeping it inside but she didn't want to scare him off.

She wasn't really supposed to be thinking about that right now, though. She had been hard at work all day trying to get through all the unfinished autopsies that had piled up. One of her coworkers had retired a week prior without the hospital having finished training his replacement, and with only two pathologists on staff that meant that there was a lot of work to do and not as many hours to do it in. As it stood there were ten autopsies left to do, and that was only if she was lucky enough not to have any more bodies delivered. So when she heard the morgue doors open she bit back a sigh and turned off her recorder. “I'll be with you in a moment,” she said without looking up from what she was doing.

“Take your time, Dr. Hooper,” she heard a deep masculine voice say. She didn't recognize the voice as being from anyone at the hospital so she looked up and saw a man standing there in a well cut suit, an umbrella in front of him. He had his hands rested on top of the umbrella and he was leaning on it slightly. “I know your work is very important.”

“Who are you?” she asked, stepping away from the body and stripping off her gloves, depositing them in the medical waste container.

“My name is Mycroft Holmes,” he said. “I believe you are intimately acquainted with my brother.”

She blushed slightly at the intimation in his statement. They were dating, yes, but they hadn't moved to the point in their relationship where the level of intimacy his brother was suggesting was something they had even talked about. She didn't know when or even if they would get to that point. “We're dating, yes,” she said finally.

He looked at her intently. “Forgive me for being too forward,” he said after a moment. He stopped leaning on his umbrella and stepped closer to her. “He trusts you very much, doesn't he?”

She knew the two of them weren't close. Why would his brother be here and be speaking to her about Sherlock? She wasn't sure what his game was, but she wanted him to get to the point. “I suppose he does,” she said after a moment. “Why are you here, Mr. Holmes?”

He blinked slightly. She had managed to surprise him, which in turn surprised her. She got the feeling that didn't happen often. “I am willing to offer you a significant sum of money if you will occasionally tell me details of my brother's life,” he said after a moment.

“You want me to spy on your brother?” she asked, her jaw hanging slightly.

He nodded. “You would make quite a tidy sum if you agree. More than enough to live in a higher level of luxury than you are currently acquainted with.”

Her first thought was that she should tell him off, that she should give an adamant refusal. Sherlock didn't need her to spy on him, and she wouldn't hurt him in that way anyway. His brother should have researched her better before he came making a stupid proposal like that. But then she thought about it a moment. The fact he was even asking meant he cared about his brother a little, at the very least. There must be something he wasn't getting in any of the surveillance Sherlock assumed his brother had on him, something only she could provide. She shook her head after a moment. “I'm sorry. I won't do it,” she said quietly.

Mycroft was even more surprised this time, if that was at all possible. She was sure he had expected her to take the offer. “Why not?” he asked.

“Because I don't want him to not trust me,” she said simply. “I care about him a lot and if I spied on him for you that would hurt him. I'm not willing to do that.” She moved closer to him. “You could always ask him yourself, you know. If you treat him better he might tell you whatever it is you want to know.”

Mycroft shook his head. “We don't have that type of relationship,” he said. “We have never been particularly close. Still, he is my brother, and I want to keep tabs on him. For his own safety.” He paused. “And yours as well, I suppose.”

“So you know about Moriarty's game,” she said quietly.

“Yes. I admit I know just as few details as everyone else involved. Whatever plans he has in place I cannot fathom. But I do know that if James Moriarty has been planning this game for as long as he intimated to my brother there could be many more acts of violence committed before it's all over. And there could be people caught in the middle who shouldn't be.”

“Do you want me to end my relationship with your brother?” she asked. She was genuinely curious about that. “Because I still might not be safe, even if I do that. And I think you realize that.”

He nodded slowly. “I do realize that. I just wasn't sure if you did. You should stay close to my brother for now. I think he will be able to protect you best, with the occasional unseen help from me.” He picked the tip of his umbrella off the floor and looked at her. “I have one question for you, Dr. Hooper.”

“What would that be?”

“Are you in love with Sherlock?” 

She was quiet as she thought whether to tell him. It really wasn't right if he knew before Sherlock did, but he had asked. She nodded after a moment. “Yes, I am. He doesn't know it yet, though.”

“Treat him well, then, and do not hurt him,” Mycroft said. He turned around at that point and took a few steps towards the door. “Because I will make you regret it if you do.” And with that threat hanging in the air he went to the doors, pushing them open. 

She stared after him for few minutes, long after the doors to her area had stayed still. She went to her table and pulled out another pair of gloves so she could finish the autopsy, but after a moment she set them on the table and went to her office. She wanted to tell Sherlock what had just happened, but she wasn't sure if she should. Mycroft probably wouldn't want her to. But he had every right to know. After a moment's more debate she picked up her phone and dialed his number. She put the phone to her ear and waited.

He picked up promptly. “Molly? Is something wrong?” he asked.

“Why would you think something is wrong?” she asked, blinking slightly.

“I know you're at work and you said you would be busy all day. I assumed if you were calling me six hours into your shift there was a problem.”

“No. Well, maybe. Can you come here? I think we need to talk.”

“Is it a particularly bad talk?” he asked with a hint of uncertainty.

“Do you mean am I cross at you or something?” she asked.

“Yes.”

“No. Absolutely nothing is wrong with us, I promise. But I need to talk to you about something that just happened and I'd prefer to do it face to face, and sooner rather than later.”

“I'm upstairs in the lab,” he said. “I can be there in five minutes.”

“All right. I'll see you then.” She hung up her phone and paced around her office as her nervousness increased. Finally she heard the morgue doors open and she tried to take a minute to compose herself. He came into her office, a quizzical look on her face. “Go ahead and sit down,” she told him.

He sat down in the chair he usually sat in and then watched her pace in front of him for a moment. She was trying to figure out how to tell him but just couldn't figure out how to phrase it. Finally he stood up and moved in her way. “What happened?” he asked quietly, placing a hand on each of her shoulders to keep her from moving any more.

She took a deep breath. “Your brother paid me a visit about ten minutes ago,” she said quietly.

He groaned. She got the feeling that the visit was something he should have expected but had hoped wouldn't happen. “What exactly did he say?”

“Well, he offered me a significant sum of money to tell him details about your life,” she said.

He shook his head. “I'm sorry he did that.”

“It's all right,” she said. “I just figured you should know. I mean, it's your life he wanted to know about.”

“Well, considering I think he disapproves of the fact I'm in a relationship, I don't see much reason to associate with him right now,” he said sourly. “I think he wants me to be alone and miserable for the rest of my life, just like he is.”

She was quiet, tilting her head slightly as she thought for a moment. “I don't think that's the case, though. I think he's...concerned. And I'm not entirely sure he disapproves of us. He may not be my biggest fan, but I get the feeling if he actually disapproved he wouldn't have asked me to spy on you. He'd have just thrown every obstacle at us that he could and eventually he would have split us up.” She moved closer to him. “I get the feeling he would throw his weight around to get what he wants. I don't think that was the case when he talked to me today, though.”

“What did you tell him when he asked you to spy on me?” he asked.

“I wanted to tell him to go to hell. That was my first response. I knew if I took him up on his offer that would hurt you and I don't want to hurt you. So I told him no. I also told him if he wanted to know about your life so badly he should talk to you about it, not try and get me to spy on you. If he approached you that way you'd probably be more willing to actually let him know how things were going in your life. He seemed to accept my decision, and then he left.”

Sherlock looked at her for a moment, then reached over to touch her face. “While I appreciate what you told my brother, much more than you can possibly realize, I know that Mycroft and I are going to be at odds for the rest of our lives. As my brother had told me before, we are like oil and open flame. We don't mix well and we can be quite destructive when we are forced to be together. The experience of living with him when I was fresh out of rehab has only solidified my belief that if Mycroft doesn't die of old age or some accident it will probably be the result of him angering the wrong person and being on the receiving end of a bullet.” She smiled slightly at that. She had gotten much the same feeling. “I appreciate the sentiment, but it's in everyone's best interest if he just continues to spy on me as opposed to actually talking to me.”

She stepped closer to him. “Well, I can always tell him I've changed my mind,” she said in a tone that she hoped he realized was her teasing him. When he gave her a frown she chuckled. “I won't do that, Sherlock. I promise I'm not going to spy on you. I don't care how much money he offers me.”

He relaxed. “That's good to hear.” She closed the distance between them and put her arms around him. After a moment he embraced her back. “I am glad you told me,” he murmured after a moment.

“I didn't want to keep that from you,” she said quietly. “I don't really like the idea of there being secrets between us.”

“I don't like that idea either,” he admitted. She pulled away after a few more minutes. “How much longer are you going to be working?”

“About two hours, give or take. Probably whenever I can get through with the next autopsy. I still need to finish the one I'm doing now.” She tilted her head slightly. “Why?”

He pulled an arm away and glanced at the watch on his wrist. “My experiment should take three hours to finish at most. If you don't mind waiting around we can go out and eat afterward.”

“I think I'd enjoy that a lot,” she said with a smile. “I can head up to your lab when I finish.”

“Then I'll wait for you up there. Or if I finish early I will come back down here. Does that sound good?”

“That sounds very good,” she said with a nod. She attempted to give him a quick kiss, but he kept her close for a few minutes longer than she had planned. She let him because kissing him had become one of her favorite activities, and if he wanted a longer kiss she was happy to oblige. Finally she pulled away to breathe. “The longer you stay down here the longer it's going to take me to finish,” she said with a chuckle.

“I will take that as a not so subtle hint I should go back upstairs,” he said with a grin as he let her go. He made his way to the office door. “I'll see you later, Molly.”

“See you soon,” she said just as he left her office. She waited a moment and then went back to the table and picked up her gloves, putting them on. This had all gone better than she would have expected, she thought to herself. Much _much_ better. The only niggling worry she had was that Mycroft would tell his brother what she had told him about being in love with him. Eventually she would get the brass ones to tell Sherlock herself. She just really hoped Mycroft didn't beat her to it.


End file.
